fix(ai-builder): Paginate list-credentials tool and drop unused fields (#28108)

packages/@n8n/instance-ai/src/tools/credentials/__tests__/get-credential.tool.test.ts

@@ -26,8 +26,6 @@ function makeCredentialDetail(overrides?: Partial<CredentialDetail>): Credential
 		id: 'cred-123',
 		name: 'My Slack Token',
 		type: 'slackApi',
-		createdAt: '2025-01-01T00:00:00.000Z',
-		updatedAt: '2025-06-15T12:00:00.000Z',
 		nodesWithAccess: [{ nodeType: 'n8n-nodes-base.slack' }],
 		...overrides,
 	};

packages/@n8n/instance-ai/src/tools/credentials/__tests__/list-credentials.tool.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+import type { InstanceAiContext, CredentialSummary } from '../../../types';
+import { createListCredentialsTool, listCredentialsInputSchema } from '../list-credentials.tool';
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Helpers
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+function createMockContext(): InstanceAiContext {
+	return {
+		userId: 'test-user',
+		workflowService: {} as InstanceAiContext['workflowService'],
+		executionService: {} as InstanceAiContext['executionService'],
+		credentialService: {
+			list: jest.fn(),
+			get: jest.fn(),
+			delete: jest.fn(),
+			test: jest.fn(),
+		},
+		nodeService: {} as InstanceAiContext['nodeService'],
+		dataTableService: {} as InstanceAiContext['dataTableService'],
+	};
+}
+
+function makeCredential(overrides?: Partial<CredentialSummary>): CredentialSummary {
+	return {
+		id: 'cred-1',
+		name: 'Gmail OAuth',
+		type: 'gmailOAuth2',
+		...overrides,
+	};
+}
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Tests
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+describe('list-credentials tool', () => {
+	describe('schema validation', () => {
+		it('accepts empty input', () => {
+			const result = listCredentialsInputSchema.safeParse({});
+			expect(result.success).toBe(true);
+		});
+
+		it('accepts a type filter', () => {
+			const result = listCredentialsInputSchema.safeParse({ type: 'gmailOAuth2' });
+			expect(result.success).toBe(true);
+		});
+
+		it('accepts pagination params', () => {
+			const result = listCredentialsInputSchema.safeParse({ limit: 10, offset: 20 });
+			expect(result.success).toBe(true);
+		});
+	});
+
+	describe('execute', () => {
+		it('returns credentials with total count', async () => {
+			const context = createMockContext();
+			const credentials = [makeCredential()];
+			(context.credentialService.list as jest.Mock).mockResolvedValue(credentials);
+
+			const tool = createListCredentialsTool(context);
+			const result = (await tool.execute!({}, {} as never)) as {
+				credentials: Array<{ id: string; name: string; type: string }>;
+				total: number;
+			};
+
+			expect(result.credentials).toEqual([
+				{ id: 'cred-1', name: 'Gmail OAuth', type: 'gmailOAuth2' },
+			]);
+			expect(result.total).toBe(1);
+		});
+
+		it('passes type filter to the list call', async () => {
+			const context = createMockContext();
+			(context.credentialService.list as jest.Mock).mockResolvedValue([]);
+
+			const tool = createListCredentialsTool(context);
+			await tool.execute!({ type: 'gmailOAuth2' }, {} as never);
+
+			expect(context.credentialService.list).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ type: 'gmailOAuth2' });
+		});
+
+		it('paginates results with limit and offset', async () => {
+			const context = createMockContext();
+			const credentials = Array.from({ length: 5 }, (_, i) =>
+				makeCredential({ id: `cred-${i}`, name: `Cred ${i}` }),
+			);
+			(context.credentialService.list as jest.Mock).mockResolvedValue(credentials);
+
+			const tool = createListCredentialsTool(context);
+			const result = (await tool.execute!({ limit: 2, offset: 1 }, {} as never)) as {
+				credentials: Array<{ id: string }>;
+				total: number;
+			};
+
+			expect(result.total).toBe(5);
+			expect(result.credentials).toHaveLength(2);
+			expect(result.credentials[0].id).toBe('cred-1');
+			expect(result.credentials[1].id).toBe('cred-2');
+		});
+
+		it('uses default limit of 50', async () => {
+			const context = createMockContext();
+			const credentials = Array.from({ length: 60 }, (_, i) =>
+				makeCredential({ id: `cred-${i}`, name: `Cred ${i}` }),
+			);
+			(context.credentialService.list as jest.Mock).mockResolvedValue(credentials);
+
+			const tool = createListCredentialsTool(context);
+			const result = (await tool.execute!({}, {} as never)) as {
+				credentials: Array<{ id: string }>;
+				total: number;
+			};
+
+			expect(result.total).toBe(60);
+			expect(result.credentials).toHaveLength(50);
+		});
+	});
+});

packages/@n8n/instance-ai/src/tools/credentials/get-credential.tool.ts

@@ -17,8 +17,6 @@ export function createGetCredentialTool(context: InstanceAiContext) {
 			id: z.string(),
 			name: z.string(),
 			type: z.string(),
-			createdAt: z.string(),
-			updatedAt: z.string(),
 			nodesWithAccess: z.array(z.object({ nodeType: z.string() })).optional(),
 		}),
 		execute: async (inputData: z.infer<typeof getCredentialInputSchema>) => {

packages/@n8n/instance-ai/src/tools/credentials/list-credentials.tool.ts

@@ -3,14 +3,33 @@ import { z } from 'zod';
 
 import type { InstanceAiContext } from '../../types';
 
+const DEFAULT_LIMIT = 50;
+
 export const listCredentialsInputSchema = z.object({
 	type: z.string().optional().describe('Filter by credential type (e.g. "notionApi")'),
+	limit: z
+		.number()
+		.int()
+		.min(1)
+		.max(200)
+		.optional()
+		.describe(
+			`Max credentials to return (default ${DEFAULT_LIMIT}, max 200). Use with offset to paginate.`,
+		),
+	offset: z
+		.number()
+		.int()
+		.min(0)
+		.optional()
+		.describe('Number of credentials to skip (default 0). Use with limit to paginate.'),
 });
 
 export function createListCredentialsTool(context: InstanceAiContext) {
 	return createTool({
 		id: 'list-credentials',
-		description: 'List credentials accessible to the current user. Never exposes secret data.',
+		description:
+			'List credentials accessible to the current user. Never exposes secret data. ' +
+			'Results are paginated — use limit/offset to page through large sets, or filter by type to narrow results.',
 		inputSchema: listCredentialsInputSchema,
 		outputSchema: z.object({
 			credentials: z.array(
@@ -18,16 +37,24 @@ export function createListCredentialsTool(context: InstanceAiContext) {
 					id: z.string(),
 					name: z.string(),
 					type: z.string(),
-					createdAt: z.string(),
-					updatedAt: z.string(),
 				}),
 			),
+			total: z.number().describe('Total number of credentials matching the query'),
 		}),
 		execute: async (inputData: z.infer<typeof listCredentialsInputSchema>) => {
-			const credentials = await context.credentialService.list({
+			const allCredentials = await context.credentialService.list({
 				type: inputData.type,
 			});
-			return { credentials };
+
+			const total = allCredentials.length;
+			const offset = inputData.offset ?? 0;
+			const limit = inputData.limit ?? DEFAULT_LIMIT;
+			const page = allCredentials.slice(offset, offset + limit);
+
+			return {
+				credentials: page.map(({ id, name, type }) => ({ id, name, type })),
+				total,
+			};
 		},
 	});
 }

packages/@n8n/instance-ai/src/tools/workflows/setup-workflow.service.ts

@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ import type { InstanceAiContext } from '../../types';
 /** Cache for deduplicating credential fetches across nodes with the same types. */
 export interface CredentialCache {
 	/** Credential list promises, keyed by credential type. */
-	lists: Map<string, Promise<Array<{ id: string; name: string; updatedAt: string }>>>;
+	lists: Map<string, Promise<Array<{ id: string; name: string }>>>;
 	/** Testability check promises, keyed by credential type. */
 	testability: Map<string, Promise<boolean>>;
 	/** Credential test result promises, keyed by credential ID. */
@@ -136,11 +136,7 @@ export async function buildSetupRequests(
 			if (!listPromise) {
 				listPromise = context.credentialService
 					.list({ type: credentialType })
-					.then((creds) =>
-						creds
-							.map((c) => ({ id: c.id, name: c.name, updatedAt: c.updatedAt }))
-							.sort((a, b) => new Date(b.updatedAt).getTime() - new Date(a.updatedAt).getTime()),
-					);
+					.then((creds) => creds.map((c) => ({ id: c.id, name: c.name })));
 				cache?.lists.set(credentialType, listPromise);
 			}
 			const sortedCreds = await listPromise;

packages/@n8n/instance-ai/src/types.ts

@@ -88,8 +88,6 @@ export interface CredentialSummary {
 	id: string;
 	name: string;
 	type: string;
-	createdAt: string;
-	updatedAt: string;
 }
 
 export interface CredentialDetail extends CredentialSummary {

packages/cli/src/modules/instance-ai/instance-ai.adapter.service.ts

@@ -824,8 +824,6 @@ export class InstanceAiAdapterService {
 						id: c.id,
 						name: c.name,
 						type: c.type,
-						createdAt: c.createdAt.toISOString(),
-						updatedAt: c.updatedAt.toISOString(),
 					}),
 				);
 			},
@@ -836,8 +834,6 @@ export class InstanceAiAdapterService {
 					id: credential.id,
 					name: credential.name,
 					type: credential.type,
-					createdAt: credential.createdAt.toISOString(),
-					updatedAt: credential.updatedAt.toISOString(),
 				} satisfies CredentialDetail;
 			},